First-time Hispanic Arts and Culture Festival looks to celebrate, educate and bring people together
GREEN BAY - Growing up in Green Bay, Christian Mendez has fond memories of the annual celebration for Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.
Often held downtown or at Bay Beach Amusement Park, the event faded out during the pandemic but is getting new life this year with ¡Estamos Aqui! ¡Festival Hispano!, a first-time collaboration between The Weidner at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a wide array of partners that includes businesses, schools and community groups.
The free outdoor Hispanic Arts and Culture Festival on Saturday at UW-Green Bay will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with food, music, art and a car show Mendez hopes will bring out not only Hispanics but everyone to learn about the culture.
“It’s a benefit for our community and for the kids growing up to see these kinds of events happening,” said Mendez, who is a member of the planning committee.
Many of the same sponsors and employers that have been part of previous events were excited to be on board again, along with some new ones, Mendez said. For the Weidner, planning in partnership with local Hispanic leaders was key.
“The Weidner viewed it as a terrific asset to have that many voices from the Hispanic community to work with us to produce a festival that would in fact be meaningful to the Hispanic community that lives in the region, but additionally, I think focusing specifically on arts and culture, which is, of course, the Weidner’s lane, it ended up being a pretty good marriage,’’ said Kelli Strickland, executive and artistic director of The Weidner.
“It’s the way The Weidner likes to work. We like to work with partners. We like to make sure we have representation from the appropriate voices.”
The festival name of ¡Estamos Aqui!, which is “We’re here” in English, was chosen as a bold statement of the growing Hispanic population not just in northeastern Wisconsin but across the United States, Mendez said. Organizers wanted a name that reflects how they feel in the community and their mission of bringing everyone together, he said.
“For The Weidner, in addition to serving our Hispanic neighbors, we also have a hope that non-Hispanic community members turn out to experience the arts and the culture,” Strickland said. “I have a strong belief that arts are a really powerful way to understand your neighbors who have different backgrounds. There’s nothing that strengthens a community like celebrating together.”
When and where is ¡Estamos Aqui! and where do I park?
It runs from 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday outdoors at UW-Green Bay. Use the main campus/Weidner Center entrance off Nicolet Drive. The stages will be set up in the disc golf area along the sides of Main Entrance Drive, with the car show in the lot in front of The Weidner.
Signs and people will help guide guests. Grab a map of the festival at the information booth. Parking is available in The Weidner and Wood Hall lots.
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What is there to see and do?
Car show: There will be classics, sports cars and trucks. “Trucks are a very popular type of car for us,” Mendez said. “They have different meanings and you’ll be seeing our culture, whether it’s loud music, subwoofers, etc.”
Art show: The Grand Foyer inside The Weidner will display work from local Latino artists and an artist who lives in Green Bay’s sister city of Irapuato, Mexico. The Neville Public Museum is also bringing traveling pieces of its 2017 exhibit that explores the history of the Hispanic community in northeastern Wisconsin.
For kids: The Einstein Project will have its giant sandbox truck onsite, along with interactive activities. Children can also play Loteria, sometimes called Mexican bingo.
“It’s our bingo,” Mendez said. “It’s very common to play on any random, given evening. Growing up in Mexico and other countries, Loteria is probably the famous board game, as you would maybe see here with Monopoly.”
Food: Tacos, ice cream, sweet breads and other foods will be available for purchase. Offerings will include more than just Mexican food to reflect the other countries that also celebrate their independence on Mexican Independence Day, Mendez said.
Vendors: A market area will feature small Hispanic businesses.
Here's who is playing, including headliners Tiempo Libre
Nine groups, a mix of local and national acts, will perform on two stages. Tiempo Libre, the Hispanic fusion band twice nominated for a Grammy Award for best tropical Latin album and again for best salsa/merengue album, headlines the festival at 8:30 p.m.
Los Locales, 3 p.m.
123 Andres, 4 p.m. (family-friendly Grammy-nominated bilingual act is known for its high-energy, interactive shows for kids)
Fernando, 4:45 p.m.
La Imparable Dos De Oro, 5:30 p.m.
La Nueva Tendencia, 6:15 p.m.
Grupo KN ZAVOR, 7 p.m.
Reencuentro Norteno, 7:45 p.m.
Tiempo Libre, 8:30 p.m.
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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: New Hispanic festival at UW-Green Bay has bands, car show, food
